# The Story of the Four Little Children Who Went Round the World explained — Nonsense Books > Chapter companion for Nonsense Books by Edward Lear. ## What happens Four children—Violet, Slingsby, Guy, and Lionel—set sail around the world with a cat and a Quangle-Wangle. They encounter absurd islands, a tree full of veal-cutlets and chocolate-drops, parrots whose tail feathers are stolen, a sea of ready-cooked soles, an orange tree storm, a cooperative Cauliflower, a malicious boy with a pumpkin, a field of mulberry-jam guarded by a sleeping ape, a Seeze Pyder that destroys their boat, and finally ride a Rhinoceros home, where they have it stuffed. ## Themes in this chapter ### Adventure and Exploration The children set out to sail around the world, encountering fantastical lands and creatures. ### Nonsense and Absurdity Absurd elements include an island made of water, a tree 503 feet high, veal-cutlets and chocolate-drops, a cooperative Cauliflower, and a Seeze Pyder. ### Social Absurdity and Conformity The children's polite interactions with the Bluebottle-Flies and the Mice's sneezing response parody social conventions. ## Character check-ins ### Violet One of the four children; she knits frocks for fishes and inserts parrot feathers into her bonnet. ### Slingsby One of the four children; he administers opium-drops to fishes. ### Guy One of the four children; he asks the Mice for pudding and later shies his cap into it. ### Lionel One of the four children; he cheers the party by standing on one leg and whistling. ### The Quangle Wangle Elderly creature who cooks, steers, and later throws a pumpkin back at a boy; his right foot is injured by falling oranges. ### The Pussycat The small cat that steers the boat and eats fish bones; she bites off parrot tail feathers. ## Key lines > So they bought a large boat to sail quite round the world by sea, and then they were to come back on the other side by land. They purchased a big boat to circumnavigate the globe by sea, planning to return overland. _Sets up the adventure premise._ > The boat was painted blue with green spots, and the sail was yellow with red stripes The boat had a blue hull with green dots and a yellow sail with red stripes. _Describes the whimsical appearance of the vessel._ > they found it was an island made of water quite surrounded by earth They discovered an island composed entirely of water, encircled by land. _A classic nonsense inversion of geography._ > the island was quite full of veal-cutlets and chocolate-drops, and nothing else The island was covered exclusively in veal cutlets and chocolate drops. _Absurd abundance of food._ > the Pussycat and the Quangle-Wangle crept softly, and bit off the tail-feathers of all the sixty-five parrots The cat and the Quangle-Wangle stealthily bit off the tail feathers of all sixty-five parrots. _Mischievous act leading to Violet's feathered bonnet._ > the sea, which was so entirely full of fishes that the boat could go on no farther The sea was so packed with fish that the boat could not proceed. _A sea of ready-cooked soles with shrimp sauce._ > Violet most amiably knitted a small woollen frock for several of the fishes Violet kindly knitted tiny woolen garments for some of the fish. _Absurd kindness to fish._ > a most dreadfully high wind rose, and blew out most of the parrot-tail feathers from Violet’s bonnet A strong wind blew most of the parrot feathers out of Violet's bonnet. _Comic misfortune._ > the oranges falling down on their heads by millions and millions Millions of oranges rained down on their heads. _Absurd orange storm._ > It is the cooperative Cauliflower! The Quangle-Wangle identifies the creature as a cooperative Cauliflower. _Introduction of a talking vegetable._ > a particularly odious little boy, dressed in rose-colored knickerbockers, and with a pewter plate upon his head, threw an enormous pumpkin at the boat A nasty little boy in pink knickerbockers and a pewter helmet hurled a huge pumpkin at the boat. _Hostile encounter with a pumpkin-throwing boy._ > the pumpkin exploded surreptitiously into a thousand bits; whereon the rocks instantly took fire The pumpkin secretly exploded into fragments, setting the rocks on fire. _Explosive pumpkin revenge._ > they found nothing at all except some wide and deep pits full of mulberry-jam They encountered only large pits filled with mulberry jam. _Jam pits guarded by a sleeping ape._ > the boat (including the churn and the teakettle) in the mouth of an enormous Seeze Pyder Their boat, churn, and teakettle were in the mouth of a huge Seeze Pyder. _Destruction of the boat by a mythical creature._ > there happened to pass by at that moment an elderly Rhinoceros, on which they seized An old rhinoceros happened by, and they grabbed it. _New mode of transport._ > they all arrived safely at home, where they were received by their admiring relatives with joy tempered with contempt They returned home safely, greeted by relatives with a mix of joy and disdain. _Ambivalent homecoming._ > they had him killed and stuffed directly They had the rhinoceros killed and stuffed immediately. _Grisly token of gratitude._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/nonsense_books_se/chapters/the-story-of-the-four-little-children-who-went-round-the-world - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/nonsense_books_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/nonsense_books_se/chapters